A New Life
by Crystal
Summary: A New Town, A New Slayer, but the Same Old Watcher. What Will Happen?


Title: "A New Life" Part 1  
Category: Spin-off, I guess.  
Rated: PG (just to be safe)  
Characters: Just Giles, for now.  
Summary: Giles takes up with a new Slayer.  
Disclaimer: Joss's characters are Joss's characters, not mine.  
COMMENTS: VERY IMPORTANT. READ THIS!!   
Okay, this isn't a typical BtVS fanfic. This is a spin-off of BtVS, so some people may not like it. Here's version of previous events:  
1. While Faith was in a coma (Season 4), she died for a moment, giving rise to a 3rd Slayer (Who is the topic of this fanfic.). Faith's whereabouts are unknown, but she is believed to be alive.   
2. Buffy and Angel, working together (and with the Scooby Gang) after the Hellmouth was re-opened, closed it permanently... and disappeared into the night, never to be seen again. (Happy ending to appease all )  
3. After the Watcher's Council heard of his help in permanently closing the Hellmouth, they decided to re-instate Giles, making him an active Watcher once again.  
4. Because of the above comments, the time period could really be anything after the 4th season of Buffy, so I'm officially going to make it oh, say, after the 6th season (3rd - Angel) or roughly 2 years into the future.  
Feedback is definately appreciated and encouraged!  
ENJOY!   
  
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Rupert Giles: Watcher, re-instated.  
  
Jane Collford looked up from her papers and yawned due to the rocking motion of the bus. Hmm, she thought. 're-instated.' That sounds interesting. As she started to read further into his record, a loud voice come over the intercom.  
  
"Next stop, Cannon Hill, New Mexico. Cannon Hill, next stop."  
  
Jane gathered her papers as the bus pulled into the station. Sunlight flooded her eyes and she had to use her papers to block enough sunlight just to see. As she stepped off, she looked around at the people waiting.  
  
She cought on woman, forty-ish, she guessed, with three whiny brats running around her. Okay, pass. Next...  
  
He eyes next stopped at a tall man, around 20, wearing a leather jacket and carrying a motorcycle helmet. Definately cute, but not Watcher material.  
  
BINGO! Late thirties, wire-rim glasses. The only thing that didn't fit was the outfit: bermuda shorts and a Hawaiian Shirt. Yikes. He stood there, impatiently checking his watch as she approached him.  
  
"Rupert Giles?"  
  
Giles looked at the young woman standing in front of him. He was so used to Buffy... and Faith... that he was a bit shocked at this clean-cut young woman in front of him. Maybe it was for the comfort of her long bus trip, but compared to the recent Slayers, she was quite... well, plain almost, dressed simply ing khaki shorts and a tee-shirt from what he could only assume could have been her former high school.  
  
"Yes. And you must be Miss Collford?"  
  
"Jane, thanks." She wiped some sweat off of her brow. "Listen, it's hot as a dog out here. Does your car have A/C?"  
  
Giles was perplexed. "Well, yes."  
  
She smiled and picked up one of her bags. "Then let's get in it and crank that sucker up before I turn to dust!" She started walking, then turned quickly. "Metaphorically speaking, of course. Let's jet."  
  
She briskly walked to the parking lot as Giles followed her, shaking his head in amazement.  
  
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An hour later, after stopping so that Jane could rent a car until her stuff arrived from Washington, they arrived at Giles' small apartment. Jane immediately made herself at home, looking around, checking out Giles' stuff as he put a pot on for tea.  
  
"So... this is your collection?" she asked, looking at multiple bookcases filled with ancient texts.  
  
He looked out form the kitchen. "Why, yes. What you're looking at there is about twenty-five years worth of collecting."  
  
She nodded. "Twenty-five years. Wow. Isn't it kind of small, then?"  
  
Giles was completely taken aback. "Pardon me?"  
  
"Well, all I'm saying is that for twenty-five years you would think you'd have more. And of what you do have, a lot of it is... well... useless."  
  
Giles almost choked on his words. "Useless, you say?"  
  
"Well, yeah. I mean, the Books of Anarak? Those are completely unreliable. You can almost count on the exact opposite of what they say. And the Watcher's Logs that you have. Some of them are good, but, come on! Ari Tuner's Watcher's Log? She died in a month. What good is his log?"  
  
Giles entered with two cups of tea. "Well, if you're done berating me about my life's work, I'd like to clear up a few things."  
  
She took the tea he offered and set it down as she paged though another book. "Shoot."  
  
Giles cleared his throat. This was a touchy subject. "There are many... rumors going around in the Watcher's Council about you and your previous Watcher."   
  
She laughed bitterly. "Don't they have anything better to do than gossip? I mean, aren't there demons to fight in England?"  
  
"Yes, well, rumors aside, he was known as a very... unconventional Watcher."  
  
She put down the book and turned to him. "And, you, Mr. Giles..."  
  
"Just Giles, please."  
  
"Oh. Well, just Giles. You would know all about 'unconventional' Watching, would you not? I would really love to know what it takes for a Watcher to become 're-instated'. I'm assuming that one would have to be 'un-instated first." She flashed her biggest and most innocent smile. "How'd that happen?"  
  
There was an awkward pause before Giles spoke. "Well, moving on..."  
  
"Good idea."  
  
"I've taken the liberty of enrolling you in the local high school..."  
  
Jane held up a hand to stop him "Wait, wait, wait, wait. I don't do school. See, Bryan and I had this arrangement. I got my GED and everything, so that I could devote my full energies to Slaying."  
  
"Well, I'm not Bryan, and I'd appreciate it if you would not compare me to him. As long as your under my care, you attend school."  
  
"Oh, yeah... I'll just patrol all night, got to school all day and sleep... when?"  
  
"Buffy managed to do it."  
  
Jane wheeled around to face him. "Okay, Rule #1: If you don't want me comparing you to Bryan, don't compare me to Buffy."  
  
Giles nodded. "Fine. Rule #2: You go to school. I've already arranged for you to have a study hall where you'll be training with me."  
  
Jane feigned astonishment. "You work at the school? Let me guess: British accent, books all over the place... you're the gym teacher!"  
  
Quite proudly, Giles answered, "Actually the librar..." before realizing what she meant. "Oh. Lovely sense of humor. I'd almost forgotten what Slayers can be like. And you've got somewhere to stay for the night?"  
  
"Yeah, I'll get a hotel room until I can go apartment hunting." she said as she walked out the door.  
  
"I'll expect to see you at school tomorrow! 7:30!" Giles shouted after her.   
  
The door slammed shut and Giles soon heard an engine turning over. He put the books back on the shelf and sighed heavily. I think I may be getting too old for this.  
  
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Jane took her rental car to a local hotel, checked in, washed up, and got ready to go out. She had only a few stakes with her, but she wasn't really counting on patrolling. She mostly wanted to check out the town. After drying her hair, she packed her stakes in a bag and set out.  
  
Jane got in her car and drove. She didn't know where she was going, but this was how she learned her way around. She drove past the school and though about this new Watcher of hers. After reading further into his file, she had more of an understanding of him. Bryan had been critized for being an unorthodox Watcher, and so had Giles. He had dabbled in the majiks, summoned demons, stuff that was definately non-Watcher like. She had also heard much about the Slayers that he had trained: Faith, who killed a human, then while trying to help a ancient demon 'ascend,' whatever that was, had been put into a coma by the infamous Buffy. Thanks to the gossipy Watcher's Council, everyone knew about Buffy. About her realtionship with the vampire known as Angelus. Her association with a covert military operations force. The stories were endless. She wasn't even officially a Slayer when she had supposedly 'died,' although no one really believed that she was dead. Not that Jane herself was the most studious Slayer, but... well, really there was no 'but.' Jane was just as bad as Buffy, worse even, but the difference was that she and Bryan had managed to keep most of the bad stuff secret. She could just imagine what Giles would say if he really knew half of Jane's real story, and laughed at the idea.  
  
She kept driving and passed an ominous building with a large crowd out in front, waiting to get in. Great, she thought. Even in the middle of nowhere, there are club-rats. I though I was going to get away from all this. As she drove by slowly (the traffic was too packed to just get away from the place), she noticed that someone was noticing her. He was in khakis and a blck tee-shirt and was with a group of other students. He watched her as she rounded the corner and she watched back. As she drove away she thought, Maybe this place won't be all that bad.  
  
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"So, the test will be next week on chapters 9 and 10. Any Questions?" The bell rang loudly as students stood and began exiting. "Good. I'll see you all on Monday."  
  
Jane walked out of the classroom and made her way to her locker. She stood there, checking her map to see where the library was as someone leaned up against the locker next to hers. She looked up and saw the same guy who was watching her the previous night.  
  
"You're new, right?"  
  
Jane rolled her eyes and smiled to herself before turning to him. "Wait, let me finish that line for you: I must be new because you wouldn't have missed a girl like me before, right?"  
  
The guy grinned. "Well, yeah."  
  
Jane smiled and closed her locker. "Yeah, nice to meet you."  
  
She walked away as he followed her. "No, I didn't... Hey." She stopped and turned to him impatiently. "I, I didn't mean it as a line, really. It came out wrong. My bad. I'm John. John Scott." The late bell rang and he didn't move as he held out his hand to hers.  
  
Equally, she didn't make a move, but only remarked, "I think you're late."  
  
He took the hand that was extended and combed it through his hair. "Uh, yeah. Listen... have lunch with me. So I can fully apoligize for my atrocious first impression. Okay, please. Who else are you gonna eat with?"  
  
Jane laughed. She was definately intrigued by this guy. "Fine."  
  
John smiled widely. 'Great." He kept smiling even as he began walking backwards, running into someone and apoligizing profusely.  
  
Jane kept watching him until he was out of sight, and was still smirking at the thought of him as she headed for the library.  
  
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Jane walked into the library and was immediately greeted by a stern voice. "You're late."  
  
Her smile faded as she was looked at scornfully by Giles. "Sorry."  
  
"I expect you to be on time. We have much to do." She followed him as she walked to a table. On the table was a large map. "This is a map of the town." Giles added helpfully.  
  
"Really? Because I though it was a great big chocolate bar."  
  
He gave her another scornful look. "Sarcasm noted. Now," he pointed to the map. "This is where I want you to make routine patrols. This route covers most of the cemetaries in the town and some other places that demons might like to gather."  
  
"Oh, you mean like the big watering hole in the town square." She could tell by his face that he was not amused. She folded up the map and sat down, pulling out a chair for him as well. "Listen, I work best on my own, okay? I need to figure out where and when to patrol for myself. Okay? So, just let me do that. That's my job. I slay... you watch. I go and fight the big bad guys, you... stay here til I need you for something. That's how it works. So, can you please just let me do what I do and chill on the stuffy british guy stuff?"  
  
Giles just sat there for a moment, then nodded and stood. "Fine." He walked into his office and shut the door, leaving Jane alone with the books.  
  
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Inside his office, Giles sat at his desk, comtemplating his lot in life. Must I always be doomed to have Slayers that have to insist on everything their own way? Why can't I have good, obeident Slayers like my father had? He would be so embarrassed if he were still alive. Even the Watcher's Council says that: 'Oh, look at the Brighton Giles' boy. He's such a disgrace. Can't even test a Slayer right.' Bunch of pompous, tight-waisted little stiffs. They would mess their undies at half the stuff I've had to face. They've got it easy, sitting in their little offices, passing judgement on everybody else while they go out for tea. Ha! But who am I to talk? I can't even handle a little Slayer that a twenty-three year old could!!   
  
Giles sighed to himself as he started checking the computer for overdue library books.   
  
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At lunchtime, Jodie didn't have to look hard to find John. He was waiting right at the entrance for her. They walked together to the lunchline as he began talking.  
  
"Okay, so to explain. That was not a pick-up line. I just... I mean, it's not a big town. You pretty much see the same people day after day since you leave the maternity ward at the hospital. So, I noticed you last nigh, and then when I saw you today, I figured you --- oh, no. Don't do that," he cautioned as she picked up a plate from the line.   
  
"Why not?"  
  
"Because that stuff tastes like crap." He picked up another plate and placed it on her tray. "Here's the good stuff. So, what was I saying?"  
  
"When you saw me," she offered helpfully.  
  
"Yeah, When I saw you today, I realized that you must be new. I mean, I know what it's like to be the new kid. You're looking at a full-fledged Army Brat. So... if you want, you got a friend." He held out his hand.  
  
"Army Brat? I thought you said that you grew up here."  
  
"So sue me, I lied a little."  
  
She smiled and took his hand. "Jane Collford."  
  
He smiled. "Nice to meet you, Jane Collford."  
  
"Nice to meet you, John Scott."  
  
They paid for their lunches and found a table to sit at. "So, what brings you to our lovely little town?"  
  
"Uh, job transfer." Hey, he lied a little, so it was okay.  
  
"Where'd you used to live?"  
  
"Seattle."  
  
"Wow. Seeing the sun on a daily basis must be quite a change."  
  
"Oh, yeah." She smiled slightly as she took a sip of her soda."  
  
So, was it hard to leave? You know, friends... boyfriends."  
  
She looked up at him from across the table. He smiled sheepishly. 'That's uh, that's my line."  
  
"Oh, well. Gotta give you points for execution there. Smooth as silk."  
  
"I spent hours perfecting it."  
  
"Oh, you can tell."  
  
They laughed together and when their laughter subsided, John reiterated his question: "So, any boyfriend back home?"  
  
She was about to answer as a blonde, cheerleader type approached John from behind and covered his eyes. John took a deep breath before uncomfortably guessing, "Caitlyn?"  
  
She squealed happily as she removed her hands and sat next to him. "Hey, Johnny," she cooed as she kissed him.  
  
John looked at Jane with an ever-increasing sheepishness. Jane could tell she was intruding upon something and stood to leave just as Caitlyn noticed her.  
  
"Oh, who's your new friend, Johnny?"  
  
"Hi, Jane," she offered.  
  
"Hi, I'm Caitlyn Bourne. Are you new here?"  
  
"Yeah. I'd better go. Don't want to be late on my first day of class."  
  
"Okay, Bye!" Caitlyn cheerfully waved.  
  
John looked at her and smiled, almost trying to apoligize with his grin. "See you."  
  
He watched her leave as Caitlyn prattled on.  
  
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Jodie squeezed into a seat in her classroom as it bagan filling up after lunch. She looked down at her hands as she saw John enter. He sat down next to her, waiting for her to notice him.  
  
"Your hands must be really interesting. Any chance I can get a look?"  
  
He took one of her hands and looked at it. "Listen, I do want to be friends, really. There's this thing tonight at Kaos. That's the club you passed last night. You should stop by." She looked up, but he could see the hesitant look on her face. "Come on. I'll even do my special chicken dance." He stood up and promptly gave her a sample. She couldn't help but laugh.  
  
"Maybe."  
  
He winked at her as he left. "Brilliant!"  
  
She watched him leave and smiled to herself.  
  
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Snap, clink....  
Snap, clink....  
Snap, clink....  
Snap, "Damn, I missed!"  
  
Jane sat in the cemetary later that night, flicking her root beer caps at tombstones. This is what I hate about slaying, she thought. I can deal with the blood on the clothes, I can deal with the late hours, I can deal with the secret identity, no friends thing... but the boredom! All she could do to break the monotony was flick bottle caps at tombstones (which she had become quite proficient at over the course of a little less than a year. Her record was 102 times flicking caps into the same spot.)   
She looked at her watch. Eleven o'clock. John will probably be waiting... oh, who am I kidding? He'll probably be making out with ... Caitlyn, and not giving a single though to me.  
  
Jane kicked at a stone in the dirt fiercely. "AAAAH! Why does this get to me so much? I don't want a relationship. I don't even want to go to that stupid school! I just want to do my job and kill vamps! Why must that be so hard!" She pulled out a stake from her bag as a vampire ran out at her. "ARGH!" She staked the vampire and it turned to dust. "See, how hard was that?"  
  
"I can make it a lot harder, sweetie," a voice said from behind her just as her feet were knocked out from under her. She immediately flipped back up and made with a roundhouse to the vampire's midsection. It staggered back as she regained her footing and picked another stake from her bag. She went for the vamp, but he blocked her and flipped her backwards.  
  
Damn, either he's strong... or I'm out of shape.  
  
"A little girl shouldn't be out late at night like this," the vampire said patronizingly. "She might get hurt."  
  
She laughed. "Not me, not tonight, and not by you," she quipped as she quickly did away with him. As she bent to pick up her other stake, she heard a car horn honk behind her.  
  
"Jane!"  
  
She turned around to see John in an classic Mustang Convertable, creeping up to her along the side of the road. He stopped next to her and leaned over the passenger's side. "Uh, watcha doin in a graveyard at eleven at night?"  
  
She hid the stake in her bag quickly. "Um... tombstone engraving. You know, where you put the paper over it... and the crayon... It's a hobby," she offered lamely as he hopped out of his car and started walking to her.  
  
"Seems a lot more interesting that a party at Kaos, that's for sure."  
  
She laughed. "Yeah, I was just on my way over there"  
  
"Don't bother. It kinda sucked. So, do you need a ride anywhere?"  
  
"No, I'm just... heading on home."  
  
She started walking away and he followed, walking next to her. "Really? Cause, I know this party tonight. It's up at the Plantation."  
  
She stopped. "What's that?"  
  
"Oh, it's where all the rich kids live. They're brats, mostly, but they throw great parties."  
  
"I think I'll pass." She started to walk away again, but he ran in front of her, stopping her.  
  
"No, this is a good party. My friends aren't the bratty Plantation kids. They're cool." She looked at him, measuring him up. "Come on, you don't know anyone yet. I'll introduce you to everyone. Hey," he put on his best Godfather imitation. "I'm making you an offer you can't refuse."  
  
She couldn't help but laugh. "I don't know if I'm quite dressed for it."  
  
He looked at her khaki overalls and white tee-shirt. It was one of those 3/4 sleeves, and the whole thing made her look really good. He chuckled as he led her back to his car. "Nah, you can just say that it's the latest fashion from Seattle." He opened the door for her, then jumped in from the other side as he added, "They're probably too drunk to notice anyway."  
  
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Jane awoke the next morning to the sound of non-stop rapping at her hotel room door. She grogily threw off her covers and walked to the door. The rapping grew even more constant. "GAH! I'm coming!" She opened the door and there stood Giles, looking impatient. He brushed past her and into the room.  
  
"Do you know how hard you are to find?"  
  
She closed the door slowly. "That's kind of the idea."  
  
"I was looking for you all night. Where were you?"  
  
"I was patrolling, like a good slayer, and then... hmm, Friday night... I'm a high-school student, thanks to you. Maybe I was at a party."  
  
"Well, while you were out, a situation has come up that I do believe the Slayer should deal with." He paused, then added sarcastically, "You are the Slayer, right?"  
  
She met his sarcasm and topped it. "No. It's all just some horrible mistake and if I click my heels together three times and say, 'There's no place like the mall,' I'll be a normal kid and a good, obedient Slayer will appear." She tried it for effect and waited a moment before opening her eyes. "Oh, well, guess I'll have to do." She sat on the edge of the bed. "So, what's the what?"  
  
He sat down at the desk opposite from her. "If you had actually let me talk to you yesterday, I would have told you that the reason I had the Watcher's Council send for you---"  
  
She cut him off. "You sent for little ol' me?"  
  
"I don't know of any other Slayers, so I didn't quite have a choice."  
  
She walked over to the mini-fridge and pulled out a bottle of what looked like a milkshake. "Well, don't you know how to make someone feel special."  
  
Giles ignored the comment and continued. "As I was saying, I sent for you because of an alarming trend in this town. An extremely disproportionate amount of girls - around your age - high-school, early college, have disappeared in the past few weeks."  
  
She took a sip of her drink. "Giles, there are bad people in this world who like to do things like that. What makes you think this is a matter of slayage?"  
  
"Well, I wasn't entirely sure it was," He approached her mini-fride. "I'm thirsty. May I?"  
  
"Go ahead."  
  
He reached for a bottle similar to the one she was drinking from and she climbed over the bed to take it from him. "Uh, no... not that. It's medicated. For anemia. Here. Take a soda."  
  
He took the soda, but thought, I've never heard of anemia milkshakes before. He sat back down at the desk. "Again, I wasn't sure it was supernatural until I found, in those 'useless' Books of Anarak, I might add, a prophecy. This prophecy, according to my translation, state that a Hellmouth will open in this town, on the ninetieth day of this year."  
  
Jane took a quick count in her head. "That's tomorrow."  
  
Giles sighed. "Yes, that's tomorrow."  
  
Jane got up and put her drink back in the mini-fridge. "Okay, so I find out exactly where this Hellmouth is supposed to open, and how, and I keep it closed. Shouldn't be too hard. Thanks for telling me. I'll get right on it," she began ushering him out of the room.  
  
"It's not quite that simple."  
  
"Of course not," she whined. "I'm going to have to give up my day of apartment hunting, aren't I?"  
  
Giles laughed as he exited and she followed. Ooh, she thought. That's a scary sound.  
  
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An hour later, Jane was sitting in the school library, wafting through ancient texts. She looked up and blinked her eyes.   
  
"Did you discover anything?"  
  
"Other than the fact that after a half an hour of reading, all the words start to run together and make pictures, nothing."  
  
Giles stopped what he was doing for a moment. "I find it hard to believe that you're that unaccustomed to doing research. Surely your former Watcher must have---"  
  
"He does have a name and it happens to be Bryan."  
  
Giles felt embarrassed. "I'm sorry."  
  
"You should be," she retorted quickly.  
  
Giles paused a moment. He could see that the expression on her face was very pained. His voice softened to almost a whisper. "I just wanted to tell you, whatever rumors went around about him... he was a good Watcher. We were all very sad to hear about his loss."  
  
There was a moment as she looked intently at the cover of the book in front of her. "You know," she started slowly. 'It's very interesting... the euphamisms that people use for death. As if not saying the actual word makes it any less real. As if it makes him still alive. He died. He was my Watcher... and he died. Dead. And passing it off as a loss and spewing condolences won't change that fact, so spare me the pity, please."  
  
Giles again felt embarrassed. "Very well. I did have the honor of meeting him once. He was a good lad---"  
  
Jane pointed to a spot in one of the books she had. "Here. Ritual for opening a portal, and... virgin sacrifice. This is what you're looking for, right?"  
  
She looked up at him, like a lost puppy, pleading with her eyes for him to change the subject. He got the hint and looked through his papers. "Virgin sacfirice? I don't know. Maybe, but some of these girls don't seem to be the purest in town."  
  
"Let me see." She took the papers and quickly sorted out the ones that had formerly gone to her new school, Hobbit's Glen High. She thought a moment. 'It's opening tomorrow, right?"  
  
Giles checked his books once again. "Yes, tomorrow."  
  
She thought another moment longer. "Okay, you keep on trying to find out where it might open, and I'll done a little research on these girls." She gathered up her stuff and a few of the books as well, and wrote something quickly on a sheet of paper, handing it to him. "If you find anything important, here's my cell number. Got that?"  
  
He took it and put it in one of his books. "Yes."  
  
She slung her bag over her shoulder. "Okay. Good. I'll see you later."  
  
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After she left the school, Jane took that phone book from her hotel room and began searching for apartments. She fully intended to do the research she had told Giles she would do, but she couldn't do most of it until later, so she figured she would make the best of her time. Wow, I'm good at lying to myself, she thought as she checked out apartment buildings. She found a small apartment in a fairly nice area and made the deposit before heading back to her hotel room.  
  
On the way back, she passed a row of stores in the center of town. Hmm, I do need something to wear tonight... for the research. I've got time.  
  
An hour later (and two hundred dollars poorer), she went back to her hotel room.  
  
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Back at the hotel room, she spread out the books and papers on her bed. She looked at the ritual she had found. Virgins, huh? She looked at the pictures of the girls who had disappeared. Giles was definately right. These were not the chaste beauties of the school. As she looked over the pictures, the grinds in her mind started working.   
Okay, I've got five pictures here. Giles still has seven... That's twelve. She started going through the rituals that she knew of in her mind. No matter how much Giles disbelieved it, she really was a studious Slayer. Bryan had made her one. He had drilled demons and spells and rituals into her head morning, noon, and night. She would never forget: the second day of her training with him... he gave her a TEST! Who else would do that, but Jane loved every minute of it.  
Twelve. That just doesn't fit. Then she had another thought. If it were thirteen, maybe. Hmm, let me see here... She paged through the book and finally found what she was looking for. Yes, the Ritual of Amalgamon. Okay, thirteen unholy women... three suns before a new moon... opens a Hellmouth! Bingo! But thirteen. That means they'll need another girl by tonight. And I bet I know just where they can find one.  
  
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"Hey, there, hot stuff! You new here?"  
  
Jane rolled her eyes as she locked her car door and slung her bag over her shoulder. It's not like she didn't expect it... she was just annoyed. Great, jocks. She ignored the guy and his friends and walked away.  
  
"Cutie, didn't you hear me?"  
  
Still she made no notion of having heard.  
  
"I think she's playing hard to get, Cyle," one of the guy offered helpfully.  
  
"Yeah, well I'll show her hard to get."  
  
Cyle and his friends began to follow her. She knew they were, but still acted as if she knew no better. Cyle stepped up and blocked her path, while his friends moved in from the sides.  
  
"I guess you didn't hear me, because its rude not to answer a person's question, and you don't look rude to me. Does she, boys?"  
  
"Oh, no." "Not at all." They chimed in.  
  
"So, are you new?"  
  
She put on her most innocent face. "Very. In fact I was just born yesterday."  
  
He smiled and put a hand up to her face. "I like 'em young."  
  
That's what she was waiting for. As soon as he touched her, her hand whipped up and grabbed it, twisting him around and squeezing it hard. His friends were too stunned to do anything.  
  
"Yes, I'm new, and you don't know me, so I'm going to let you off with a warning. You touch me again, and I will snap every bone in your arm. Don't believe me?" She twisted harder and he yelped. "Now you do. Ta."   
  
She released him and walked away and into the club, leaving him to yell at his 'buds' for not backing him up.  
  
-----------------------------------------------------------  
  
  
When Jane walked into Kaos, she felt a strange sense of deja-vu. It was just like every other low-rate club she'd been in: black lights, blasting techno music, girls in skirts with less material than a thong. It was a vampire theme park, practically. How would she ever find John in this mess of people?  
  
"Jane?"  
  
She looked to her left and saw John, at the bar, staring at her. He walked over slowly, taking in her appearance. She was wearing a tight little black dress, but unlike anyone else who would wear that, she didn't seem like a slut. She seemed classy and sophisticated; as if she had just stepped out of some New York boutique. He met her and handed her a drink.  
  
"Uh, no thanks. I don't drink."  
  
"It's coke," he replied, still staring at her.  
  
She noticed this. "What's the matter? My skirt not short enough?"  
  
John laughed. "No... it's just... Wow! I didn't know you had a body under those overalls."  
  
She laughed back. "Well, thanks... I guess. Are you sure this is just coke?"  
  
"Well, actually, there is a little crack mixed in, just for taste." He saw the suspicious look on her face. "Kidding. Straight Coca-Cola. I swear."  
  
He led her out into the main dance floor of the club and they came to a table full of his friends, some of whom she had met the night before.  
  
"Hey," John began the introductions. "This is Mark and Jill and Karen, and you've already met Craig and Brandon and Ciely and Caitlyn. Guys, this is Jane."  
  
"Yeah, hi," Jane offered to the people she had not met.   
  
"Nice to meet you."   
  
"Great dress," Karen commented. "Where'd you get it?"  
  
"Um,... this place in town. Cafurie or something."  
  
"Really?" exclaimed Jill. "They never have anything good when I go there."  
  
"Well, we'll have to take Jane with us next time, then, won't we?" Caitlyn suggested, staring Jane down. Oh, great, Jane thought. Jealous girlfriend time. "Johnny," she purred, standing up and rubbing against him. "Did you bring me my drink?"  
  
"Sorry, I must have forgot."  
  
Caitlyn looked at the drink Jane was holding. "I'm sure you did. Come with me to get another."  
  
John ushered for Jane to sit in the booth and sat next to her. "You can get it yourself, Caitlyn."  
  
She paused. "Fine." Then, with a flip of her hair, walked off to the bar.  
  
Jane watched her go as the other couples got up and made their way to the dance floor. "Listen," she said quietly to John. "I don't mean to make problems. I can sit somewhere else."  
  
He laughed at her. "All by yourself. Nah. Come one, let's dance."  
  
"Nah, I'm not too good of a dancer."  
  
"Hey, you saw my chicken dance. Neither am I." And with that he led her to the dance floor and started dancing.  
  
  
The clock at the town hall, three blocks away, struck twelve.  
  
-----------------------------------------------------------  
  
  
Ten minutes earlier, Rupert Giles hunched over his texts, trying to pinpoint exactly where the Hellmouth would be set to open.  
  
Alright, according to this trilocation here, it should open here. Which in present day Cannon Hill would make that... 18 Elm Street. Well, that's that club that all the kids go to party. And that's the place that some of these girls were last seen in. Why that place would be a veritable vampire feeding ground on a Saturday...  
  
He stood up quickly. "Jane!"  
  
-----------------------------------------------------------  
  
  
Jane and John stood, dancing, out on the dance floor.   
  
"Um... so just so you don't get the wrong impression... Caitlyn's not my girlfriend."  
  
Jane didn't know whether she believed him or not. "She seems pretty possesive. Like almost Fatal Attraction-esque."  
  
"No, no," John laughed. "See, we used to date. For a while. And we broke things off when she wanted to see this football player. So now since he's dumped her, she's hanging all over me."  
  
Jane smiled. "Well, aren't you the stud?"  
  
He blushed, embarrassed. "No. But I'm just putting it out there... no strings attached to me."  
  
"Well, as inviting as that... invitation is... unfourtnately, I've got so many strings attached I'm practically a marrionette."  
  
John backed off a little from their close dancing posture. "Oh, so I guess the answer to the back home question was yes, huh? Maybe I should have let you answer."  
  
This time she blushed, but she didn't know why. "Yeah, well not exactly... It's complicated. There's not really time in my life for a guy."  
  
"Why? What could possibly take up that much time?"  
  
She was about to answer as doors opened all over the place and big, nasty looking vamps stood in the way of the entrances.  
  
John (and everyone else in the club) stood, shocked at what was happening.  
  
"What the Hell is that?"  
  
Jane sighed. "The answer to your question."  
  
-----------------------------------------------------------  
  
  
Giles ran out to his car and sped out of his driveway as fast as he could. He fumbled around, trying to hold his cell phone (yes, against his better judgement he had been persuaded to buy one), the wheel and read the number that Jane had given him all at one time. He finally managed to coordinate himself and dialed the number.  
  
-----------------------------------------------------------  
  
  
Jane stood, John at her side, amidst all the chaos going on around her. She was counting the vampires when she realized that she was ringing. Irritably, she answered.  
  
"Yes?"  
  
"Jane, it's Giles. I found out where the Hellmouth will be opening."  
  
"Let me guess - Kaos?"  
  
Giles sounded surprized. 'Why, yes, how did you know?"  
  
"Good guess. Listen, thanks for the tip, but I've got to deal with some vampires now. Bye."  
  
She hung up as the pandemonium started. Jane quickly turned to John. "Okay, don't ask questions, just get everyone away from the doors. Take them up on that stage area."  
  
"What is going on?!?!" he exclaimed.  
  
"Don't ask questions. Just go!"  
  
"Okay," he said, puzzled. John went off to gather everyone up as the vampires began entering. She took a quick count around her. There had to be close to twenty, maybe more. She had brought a bunch of stakes with her, but nearly as many as she needed.  
  
"Okay, time to improvise."  
  
She saw a pool table and ran over, grabbing a cue stick before making a run at a group of vampires. I'll just attreact them to me and away from everyone else, she thought.  
  
"Hey there, ugly!"  
  
Almost all of the vampires looked over at once. One of them, a girl, spoke. "Oh, looka the little girl standing up to us!"  
  
Another chimed in. "I think she might just be our lucky thirteen."  
  
Jane dusted one vamp with the whole cue, then broke it in half, taking out two vamps coming at her from both sides. A tall vampire, with short brown hair remarked, "I think she's a slayer."  
  
"Ooh, a vamp with a brain. What an unusual occurance." She took a stake and made a lunge for him, but he was very strong and managed to block it just as Jane heard a car squeal up out front. She continued fighting the vamp as, a moment later, Giles, weilding a bag and a sword, ran in. Jane dusted the vamp and ran over to him.  
  
"Wow. I never thought I'd say this, but boy am I happy to see you!" She took the sword as John ran up to the both of them.  
  
"Jane, what is going on?"  
  
She threw him her bag of stakes as she saw more vamps coming in. "Here. Aim the pointed end at their hearts. I'll explain later."  
  
"WHAT!?!?!"  
  
"Just do it! You, too, Giles! They should be bringing in the sacrifices soon. I'm going to try to stop them."  
  
Giles and John began staking vampires as Jodie took the sword and beheaded any vamps that got in her way. She headed for the back room, having noticed earlier that there were two vamps standing in front of that door that hadn't moved the entire time. She quickly swung the sword at one, be he held his hand up to block the blade, inadvertantly slicing his own hand off. As he was stunned by the loss of his hand, she lopped his head off. Jane put the sword's blade up to the other's throat.  
  
"Are you going to be nice and let me in, or do I have to Ichabod Crane you?"  
  
The vamp lunged and she sliced his head clean off. She busted down the door and found all twelve girls in there, prepped and ready for a sacrifice. She recognized some of them from the pictures. Jane looked around, hesitant to quickly help them. It just looked too perfect. Only two guards at the door, no one of the demon persuasion inside. It was perfect for her to take them and leave, which was what made her so suspicious.  
  
Jane cautiously made her way over to the girls. I don't like this... a sinking voice in her head told her. She snuck over to one of the girls and knealt down, looking at the chains that held her. "I'm going to get you out of here, okay?"  
  
The girl nodded frantically as Jane stood up and looked for something to break the chains with. She was comtemplating trying the sword, when, out of nowhere, a vampire grabbed her from behind.  
  
"And this little one makes thirteen."  
  
-----------------------------------------------------------  
  
  
After taking care of the vampires, Giles sent John to make sure all of the students were out of the building. John hurried them all out the back stage door and into the alley way. When he got out there, Caitlyn found him and latched onto him.  
  
"Oh, Johnny! What was that? I'm so scared."  
  
She wrapped her arms around him as he stood, looking at the door, waiting for Jane to come out. Caitlyn kept nuzzling at him as he became fed up with the waiting. "Damn! I'm going back in there!"  
  
Caitlyn made a sound of frustration as John ran back inside.  
  
-----------------------------------------------------------  
  
  
This vampire was extremely strong and Jane couldn't get away from him. She struggled as he took her over to an empty set of chains.   
  
"You should feel special," the vampire said to her. "You're completing our ritual."  
  
Great, she thought. A vampire who makes small talk while he's killing you.  
  
He chained her up (it was amazing how strong this vampire was, that he could keep her held while chaining her up) and as he was doing this, four other vampires came into the room, carrying various orbs and other objects. One of them had very sharp prongs, and from reading the ritual, Jane knew what it was for and knew she didn't want to be on the recieving end of this. The vampires made a circle and began chanting an incantation. Shortly after, the large orb in the center of the room began glowing a deep red color. The vampire who had chained her held the prong thingy.   
  
"As was found last, shall be sacrificed first," he said and headed straight for Jane.   
  
He handed the prong thingy to another vampire as he unchained her. The other vampire began to stick it in her as John burst into the room. This distracted the vampires enough so that she could kick them off of her and grab her sword.   
  
"Uh... wow," John said at the sigh tin front of him.  
  
Jane, across the room, shouted at him, "Smash the ball and RUN!"   
  
He did so as Jane began making with the slice and dice. Two of the vampires managed to run away before she could get them, but that was okay with her. She released that girls and went home.  
  
She had seen those two vamps faces... she would get them later.  
  
-----------------------------------------------------------  
  
  
Monday, before classes, Jane paid Giles a visit in the school library. He was busy with the books and didn't notice (or pretended not to notice Jane as she entered.  
  
"So...," she said nonchalantly. "Anarak was right. A bit shady on the time of day... but they were right."  
  
"Yes, and all from a set of useless books. How ironic."  
  
She brushed this barb at her off. "That was a nice sword you got there, too. Goes clean through bone. Do you have to get something like that specially made?"  
  
He turned to her. "Actually, that sword was forged by a knight to send a demon to hell."  
  
"So it is a kind of custom-order kind of thing." She again paused as he turned back to his work. "Listen, because you're not going to hear this from me very often. I'm... I'm sorry. I came down really hard on you and you really saved my butt in there Saturday. How 'bout we start over? Clean slate? See..." she walked away and then walked back up to him, mile wide smile on her face. "Hi, I'm Jane, your new, fairly obedient, trustworthy, good for everything Slayer. And you must me Giles, Watcher expertus."  
  
He looked at her and cracked a smile. "Watcher expertus?"  
  
She shrugged. "I just made it up."  
  
Giles took her hand and shook it. "Nice to meet you, Jane."  
  
They stood there, laughing as John walked in briskly.   
  
"Okay, so there are vampires... and they're in this town... and you kill them... am I right about all that?"  
  
Jane sighed, "Yeah, pretty much."  
  
"Okay, just checking. I'm guessing this is a secret, right?"  
  
"Yes!" Gile and Jane answered in unison.  
  
"Okay. Thanks. I think I'm going to like being your friend."  
  
And with that, John walked back out of the library.  
  
Jane shook her head and took a quick glance at Giles. Maybe it won't be so bad here, after all.  
  



End file.
